Fishing Report

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, sorry no report from the boat today, I am at the bait shop actually working!! A cooler week ahead and some rain this afternoon should help drop water temps to a point that really fires the fish up.  I am seeing highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s and 40s for most of the week.  We do have a chance of rain this afternoon, but we look dry other than that.  Water levels are still crazy low, and water temps are still holding around the mid 60s for now.  Turnover will be happening soon on most lakes, and pre turnover can be some of the best fishing of the season. Fishing has been pretty good overall and should get better as water temps cool.

Musky–The musky bite has been good and anglers are seeing fish on all different baits, bucktails, dive and rise baits, jerkbaits, and live bait are all in play right now.  Anglers will find musky in and around weeds that are still green and holding oxygen.  Deep edges will certainly be key spots as some of the panfish will be starting to push towards the basins.

Northern pike–Pike action has been good and anglers are doing well catching pike on bucktails, jerkbaits, and live bait as well.  Smaller musky suckers work well in the fall for bigger pike, and anglers should let suckers swim through weed beds in search of pike.

Walleye–While the walleye bite has been slow, as water temps drop the walleye should really fire up and put the feed bag on.  Paddle tail swimbaits rigged on bigger 3/8oz jigs worked on shallow sandy shorelines or flats can be excellent for walleye this time of year.  Jerkbaits or minnow baits can be excellent up shallow as well.  For deeper ‘eyes trolling crankbaits is a great choice.  Live bait can also be great jigged on deeper structure or up shallow and minnows and suckers should be the first choice for a live bait presentation.

LMB–Bass are still in the shallows, and anglers should work docks, shoreline weeds, and even fallen timber along shorelines right now.  Live bait has been really working for largemouth right now, and anglers are seeing fish on both fathead minnows and walleye suckers.  Spinnerbaits and small inline spinners can be great for bass as far as artificial baits go.

SMB–Smallies are all over the water column right now and anglers are catching them on deeper structure jigging live bait and some anglers this week told me they have had a few blow up on musky sized top water baits. There is really no right or wrong answer for smallies, they are aggressive and will eat just about anything at this point in the season.

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–The panfish bite has not been great over the last couple of weeks, and they are starting to scatter.  Weeds are starting to die off or at least lose color and panfish are pushing into basins or holding in still green weeds.  Minnows or plastics jigged into schools of crappie and perch are great ways to catch panfish right now, as those two species are most likely in basins and schooled in deeper water on most lakes.  Anglers can still find bluegills in and around weeds and leaf worms are a good late season live bait option for them.  

That is all I have for this week’s report.  The colors sure changed quick and leaves are starting to come down in numbers.  The greatest season of the year is upon us, as is some of the best fishing to be had.  Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, a wet start to the weekend in the Northwoods.  It’s been raining lightly off and on since yesterday afternoon, although it has not amounted to much.  I am showing 2/10ths of an inch here at the bait shop.  It looks to be a cooler dry week, with temps in the 60s and lows down into the 30s a few nights.  Water temps did creep up a little bit over the past week, but this little bit of rain and cooler days and nights should have brought it back down.  It sounds like most lakes are hovering around the mid 60s right now.  Unfortunately water levels are still way down, with most lakes down about 2 feet and others down like 3 to 3-1/2 feet.  

Musky–The musky bite last week started off pretty hot, however Wednesday we had high sun and flat calm conditions and the fish shut down.  Moving forward with cooling water temps should help even if we have some high sun days.  Musky are starting to move on bigger rubber baits, glide baits, and still on bucktails as well.  Suckers haven’t really taken off yet, but I would think starting this week they will start to be an effective way to catch ‘skies. Musky will still be relating to weeds/reefs/shorelines, although anglers should push out to the deeper edges of these structures.

Northern pike–Pike action has been good, and anglers are seeing them mostly on musky baits.  Bucktails seem to be working the best, although baits like Swimmin dawgs  and tubes are working as well.  Pike are also in and around weeds and anglers should focus on still green weeds.

Walleye–The walleye bite has been non-existent lately, at least from all of the anglers I have been talking too.  Walleye suckers and fathead minnows, should start to take the place of crawlers, and anglers should find walleye off of deeper breaks during the day and coming up into shallower sandy flats at dusk. Throwing jerkbaits up shallow at dusk, or trolling crankbaits on those breaklines can be effective as well.

LMB–Largemouth have still been active, but they are slowing down a little bit.  As the water cools, anglers will find largemouth starting to push into deeper weed edges or suspending in pockets of deeper weeds.  Spinnerbaits and live bait will start to out produce lures such as topwater baits right now.  Minnows or crawlers will still work as far as live bait goes.

SMB–Smallies are starting to push onto deeper rocky points or reefs in the middle of the lake.  Jigging plastics or using sucker minnows on jigs is a good tactic to catch some nice smallies right now.  Look for smallies anywhere from 12-20 FOW depending on the lakes deep structure.

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–Panfish are spread out this time of year, and crappie and perch will start to push towards the basins or the deeper weeds in the lake.  Bluegill will stay shallower for the most part and they should still be in the thickest of the weeds.  For crappie and perch, minnows will be the best option as far as bait goes, although jigs and plastics can work well too.  For ‘gills, crawlers, leaf worms, and plastics can all be effective.

That is all I have for this week’s report.  Busy weekend in town with the bike races going on.  The woods have been busy too with both Bear and Archery seasons underway.  I have heard of a few nice bears being harvested so far and a good friend of ours harvested a great buck with her crossbow last night!!  Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg